With me, my little girl and 2 labs we topped out at 24.9

I just couldn't get 25, but was actually hoping for 27/28.

I'm happy though and my little girl had a blast. Plenty stable and the 21" sides were nice too.

Can't wait to do some more with it. Also, reverse is nice, even manual. I didn't push off enough when I was ready to trailer it, so with a pull of the pin and a few ratchets, and all good.

The smile on my doodlebugs face made me realize I did good.

Amazing how many folks stop to watch a MM launch and go through a cove though, or come in to trailer it.

What is a doodlebug?

My 7 year old little girl.

Was this your first trip? You should get a little more out of it.

Yeah, first trip and first MM.

The lil' one and I just wanted to see how it ran. We went out around 2:30 and back in by 4:45. I've never been out on the lakes up here, so we stayed in the deep water. Plan on looking around more as time allows. I told her if we were back home on the coast I would know all kinds of places to go, but safer than sorry in unfamaliar territory especially having her with me.

Cool man. Congrats on the new rig.

how high were you trimmed up?

I tried to keep the plate flat, but adjusting in various positions throwing a rooster tail, not throwing one, prop all in the water, partially in, mostly in.

How will it differ in shallow water?

run your prop are half in half out. shallow water you draft less, go faster and slide a lot.

There is a learning curve involved here. I bet your good for at least 27.7 mph before its over.

Trim up slowly until you start loosing speed. You will pick up a few mph in shallow water. Also, load placement is critical.

You want to trim so that you are turning about 3900/3950 RPM's unloaded. It's tricky with a PD because you can trim up so much further than a GTR. Mine runs perfect at all the way up, you'll have to find your sweet spot.

^^ go back to a gtr thread dic
you should hit 4000-4100, unless you have a lot of weight and DMD is right about the sweet spot though
if you get tiller torque you need to shift weight left or right. my boat runs better with weight in the back of the boat

I have the gun box sitting across the width of the boat and back so Kaylee can be closer to me in a seat. the dogs stood in front of her. If I move the gunbox up towards the bow will it help?


The tach stayed around 3935 wide open. Sometimes it would run up a little higher and lower at times. Trying to see the tach, keep an eye on my little one, and watch for any surprises that might be sticking up was a challenge. It was her first boat ride ever so I was more worried about her, but she was fine.

i would say move it back but every boat is different where the weight goes. You just gotta spend time on the tiller. Is it a brand new pd boat and motor or is second hand?

Don't put alot of wieght in the rake of the boat, that will kill performance and make it harder to plane out.

2008 hull and 2009 motor with 83 hrs on it. Manual trim and reverse.

Just run it man! Need to get some tiller time, the rest will come. As far as the weight, you just have to experiment. It's nice to know what it will do and where everything needs to be to get the most out of it, but I don't really care most of the time. Just put things close to where I think they need to be and roll out. Who care's how fast you're going as long as you are up on step and cruising. Enjoy!

do you know if your transom hieghts match?

Congrats on your new rig my boy! your going to love it.

they are extremely addicting and so is this damn site

It was fun sitting at a helm again. It got on plane quick too. I figure we have alot more trips to take familiarizing myself with not only the boat, but with the lake(s) too, before I hunt it. That should be half the fun and and we both are looking forward to it.

ddb, do you mean with the boat and motor, or tall side with a short transom? I have the tall tansom, but I'll be honest, I didn't pay attention to how the motor sets on the transom.

It is addicting, and the site has been a great place. Lots of tips and no worries about political correctness if someone is asking too much $ for something or genuinely full of crap.

move some up front short boat with that motor u already have a lot of weight in the back in comparision i run a 18x54 it likes the weight in the back cause of the 18 ft

i get 22/23 2 full tanks, 2 guys and a dog with my gator trax 1848 and 27 PD. just get the feel for the trim and weight distribution. its all about rpm's and friction

Dude if you have manual trim, hydro will be your next investment. Just dont know how anyone can get by without it. As the variables change so does my trim level and I use it constantly. Youwill get to know where and how to place your load and what works best for conditions. It just takes time on any of these things. Have fun.

Thanks gentleman. I'm going to try and sneak it out tomorrow, but if not, definately Friday.
I can't wait.

Y'all have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I'll report more of what I learn and what the boat'll do after I take her out again.

hey jeep i have the exact same boat and i run 25-27 loaded down same everything no mods